Lautten Compagney & Capella Angelica . Wolfgang Katschner . Christoph Prégardien

The German Baroque Christmas repertoire of the seventeenth century is unusually rich and engaging. For far too long it has been undeservedly overshadowed by eighteenth-century scores by Bach, Telemann and their contemporaries. Unjustly. One of the absolute gems from the seventeenth century is Schütz' 'Weihnachtshistorie', a musical narrative that is varied and full of colour. Schütz' original, exuberant title perfectly summarizes the content of the piece: 'Historia der freuden- und gnadenreichen Geburth Gottes und Marien Sohnes, Jesu Christi'. Of all the musical settings of Christ's birth story, this is probably the purest, by virtue of its simplicity, and also the most moving. Schütz' masterwork is put into a broader framework by the Lautten Compagney, an ensemble that has recently been causing quite a stir. The company also embarks on scores by Biber, Theile and Buxtehude, three German composers active at the end of the seventeenth century. Buxtehude's religious oeuvre in particular contains countless unknown gems, of which the choral cantata 'Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme' is but one.